Rum Clouded Memories
by Cinammon
Summary: A one-shot and a chance to learn a little bit more about our Captain Sparrow. With a woman at every port, one has to wonder, has the infamous adorable rascal ever really loved?


Disclaimer: Though I would love to own the characters from the movie The Pirates Of the Caribbean, and especially that lovable scoundrel (and he knows it!) Captain Jack Sparrow, I don't. Please don't sue me!  
  
I have a plot that has been haunting me for a while now. I have other fics that I'm currently working on that need to be finished, but the plot bunny just wouldn't go away. And so, I did what any other self-respecting fanfic author would do. I turned it into a one-shot. I don't know if it came out alright, but I do hope you all enjoy it.  
  
There's nothing quite like the feeling that someone likes your stories. To know you've created a world of your own and that for a little while someone travelled to that world on the wings of your imagination, is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world for an aspiring writer! So please, review and make me happy!  
  
~ . ~ . ~ . ~  
  
Rum clouded memories  
  
". . . and sail the seven seas," sang the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow out of key, accompanied by the crew of the Black Pearl.  
  
The entire pub cheered their spirited efforts, if nothing else.  
  
"Have some more rum, boy," said the Captain, draping an arm around the shoulders of his good friend Will Turner. Not waiting for an answer he refilled Will's mug with the fiery liquid.  
  
"To Will Turner," he toasted loudly, "a good pirate and a good man who, tonight, is forsaking the sea and turning respectable on us, all for the love of a good woman."  
  
The reaction of the rowdy crowd that filled the "The One-eyed Parrot" was instantaneous. There were some disbelieving gasps and even some booing, but most of the customers cheered, offering not only their shouts of approval, but their congratulations too.  
  
Will Turner smiled fondly at them. It had taken months for his official pardon at the Port Royal to come through. He had spent those months travelling with Captain Jack Sparrow aboard the Black Pearl.  
  
During that time he had gotten to know the pirates that were the terror of the Caribbean. Any hate for the name, had been abandoned during the adventures Captain Jack Sparrow and himself had shared when they had first met. But during their travels, Will found a form of understanding and a grudging respect for the people he now thought of as his comrades. He had lived with these riff ruff, shared their lifestyle, their dreams, their hopes, their past. And he treasured every minute of it.  
  
When news of his pardon, having finally arrived at Port Royal, had reached them, Jack had suggested that they take one last trip to Tortuga, so that Will could have a proper farewell, pirate-style. Jack didn't take no for an answer and Will readily admitted he had been right not to.  
  
"Some more rum, Mr Gibbs?" Jack offered.  
  
"Don't mind if I do Captain!"  
  
"Raise the sails! Raise the sails!" shouted Cotton's parrot as he flew overhead. Laughter followed.  
  
"Come 'ere, love," Will heard Jack say to the pretty girl that brought the rum. He pulled her by the hand so that she tumbled onto his lap. The girl giggled. "What's your name then, love?"  
  
"Lillian."  
  
"A pretty name, for a pretty girl," he said snaking a hand around her waist. Lillian giggled again.  
  
"Look at her Will," he said, seeing Will watching him. "The rosy cheeks, the glittering eyes those delicious-looking lips. . . 'Scuse me, love, may I?" he said before kissing the girl.  
  
Will grinned as he waited for his friend and Captain to come up for air. He was going to miss the pirate.  
  
"Where was I, boy? Ah yes, just look at her," he said once more as he quite obviously leered at Lillian's ample cleavage. Lillian giggled one last time before she got off Jack's lap, and swatted him playfully on the arm before walking away.  
  
"Are you sure you're ready to give all this up?" he said, watching her retreating form, appreciatively.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure Jack,"he said with some amusement, "I've got Elisabeth, there's nothing else I want."  
  
"Bah, you're a fool, boy! And a careless fool at that. You've let yourself get caught, and there's no going back once a man gets caught."  
  
Will raised an amused eyebrow at his friend's words.  
  
"And you've never "gotten caught", have you Jack?"  
  
The Captain's entire demeanour seemed to darken at that question. Will no longer seemed amused, but concerned and very curious at Jack Sparrow's reaction.  
  
"Women! Blast 'em!" said Jack with feeling before he downed his mug.  
  
"Aye, they're beautiful, wonderful creatures, to be enjoyed in all shapes, sizes and colours, but they're dangerous too. For once in a while you'll get one of 'em that's different; like your Elizabeth. She'll charm 'er way to you, and when you're not looking, she'll steal you heart. Before you know it, she'll own you. She'll occupy your every thought and dominate your dreams and nothing will ever be the same again."  
  
Now Will really was curious.  
  
"You sound like you know what you're talking about. Have you ever been in love, Jack?"  
  
Jack refilled his mug, but rather than drink the rum, he stared long into its depths. The mug stared back. The silence between them seemed to last for ever. Will worried about his Captain.  
  
"Her name was Morgan; Morgan Black,"he finally said, before taking a deep swallow from his mug.  
  
Will listened attentively. Jack saw in his mind's eye, her cinnamon tresses and her chocolate-brown eyes. He heard her laughter ringing in his ears, and smelled her soft skin.  
  
"She was a pirate too; Captain of the Enchantress." He gave a mirthless laugh. "A fitting name don't you think? She got her little ship from her father, Captain Jeffrey Black, but she kept her crew's loyalties all on her own. She had more spirit than any woman had a right to, and she could fight better than most male pirates I know. She'd been raised on the Enchantress and loved her even as I love the Pearl. She had a temper that, literally, could destroy ships, and she was ruthless when she had to be. She made for hell of an adversary, I'll tell you that!  
  
"We met right here in Tortuga. We'd both had more than our fair share of rum and we got into an argument. Well, more than an argument. Actually it was more like a fight. Don't even remember what it was all about anymore, but that girl could pack a punch!" said Jack and for the first time since he started the story, Will saw him smile.  
  
"Barbosa had already taken my ship. Have you any idea what it's like to be a Captain without a ship? I'd heard of a treasure from an old man; a friend of my father's and a fellow pirate. He gave me a map leading to the treasure, on his deathbed. I was anxious to go looking for it, but how was I supposed to do that without a ship. So, I. . . kind of. . . tried to steal hers. After all, I was still holding a grudge from the bar fight the night before.  
  
"Most of her crew were in Tortuga at the time, enjoying the. . . hospitality of the place. It should have been easy, and it was, because I quickly dispatched the guys she'd left on board to guard the ship. I intended to head to Negro where I would be able to pick up a new crew. How was I to know that she'd choose that very moment to return to the ship? I was already casting off when she rounded the peer. She jumped in the water and made it on board the ship before I even made it out of the port. We fought for it. It was too dark and neither one of us could see who we were fighting. She actually got a knife on me. She swore when she saw who I was. I've never heard profanities like that come out of a woman's mouth! She locked me in the brig and led the ship back to port. She was about to throw me out when I casually mentioned the treasure.  
  
"Morgan was above all a pirate. Back in the brig I went, but I knew it wasn't for long. It's not in my nature to share, but there was no other way I could get to the treasure. The next morning, we set off in search of the treasure. She let me out of the brig of course, since only I could read the map. It was encrypted so that only I would know the meaning of it. The old man and my father were good friends and they wanted that treasure to go to me.  
  
"It was the most. . . interesting. . . journey of my life. She was a right spitfire, and she led me around in circles. I held my own for a while, but I never had a chance. I don't know how she did it, me lad, but I fell in love with her. Not the simple kind of love that's happy with a few kisses, but the kind of love that's like a roaring fire; that eats you from the inside out. I wasn't joking when I said that she occupied my every thought, my every dream.  
  
"When we finally got together. . . It was like nothing I've ever felt before. She was mine and I was hers. That was that. We belonged together.  
  
"But that was when we realised that we were in the middle of a real adventure. In one of the ports we had to stop for supplies, we were ambushed. The old man had apparently confessed the secret of the treasure to someone else, and we found ourselves pitted against Captain Scarface. Ever heard of him, lad?"  
  
Will shook his head.  
  
"A big vicious, ugly bastard. No one knows how he got the scars on his face and no one dares to ask. A man with no honour, even for a pirate. He'll loot and pillage, but he'll also torture and rape.  
  
"We made it out of the ambush alive and intact and once again started on our way.  
  
"When we reached the island that the treasure was hidden on, there were a number of . . . confrontations. For three days and three nights, we fought and squabbled with Scarface and his men on the deserted island, trying to get to the treasure. Apparently Scarface knew that the treasure was on the island, but didn't know where. I had the map. In one of these run-ins with Scarface, Morgan took a bullet that was meant for me."  
  
Jack's voice cracked with emotion. He once again looked deeply into his mug of rum.  
  
"She told me she loved me with her dying breath."  
  
Will thought he saw Jack's eyes glisten with tears, but before he could look closer, Jack downed his drink once more. When Will could see his face again, any trace of tears, and in fact emotion, was gone. He refilled his glass.  
  
"I led Morgan's men to the treasure, and in the process, we got quite a few of Captain Scarface's men, but old Scarface himself, got away. The men asked me to be their Captain. The devil knows I needed a ship. For what is a Captain without a ship? But I couldn't do it. The Enchantress would always be Morgan's ship as far as I was concerned. And there was only one ship for me, the Pearl. I asked them to take me to the next port, and we parted our ways. Her first mate, a man called Quinn became captain."  
  
"What happened next?" asked Will.  
  
Jack snorted.  
  
"Nothing happened next, boy. I continued my adventures in the seven seas and then I met you and got the Black Pearl back. And that was the end of that.  
  
"But you know what, boy? Even though it's been years since she died, I still miss her sometimes. Life was so much brighter when she was by my side. Her wit, her laughter, her sharp tongue, they made the world a much more interesting place.  
  
"No woman can ever replace her, and though I like a woman's company as much as the next man, I have never let myself get too attached to them. It's not healthy, me lad.  
  
"I still hear stories of old Scarface once in a while and if I ever get my hands on him, there won't be much more than scars left on him when I kill him.  
  
"But until then, there are other adventures to be had, other ports to visit. Morgan wouldn't have it any other way."  
  
Jack downed his rum once more; his last for the evening.  
  
"I'll tell you a secret, lad. Captain Jack Sparrow would take on any storm, any battle, any curse even, over love. Because if it's a storm, battle or curse that gets you, you can always fight it out, but with love, you're done for. Once it's got you, really got you, there's no way out; ever. Take care of your Elizabeth, me lad."  
  
And Jack Sparrow walked out of "The One-eyed Parrot", staggering slightly, heading for his beloved Black Pearl; the only woman in his life. Soon he was just another lonely shadow in the darkness, heading for the peer.  
  
.  
  
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A/N For anyone interested, I'd love to see something done with this little ficlet. There's at least two plots in there (meeting Morgan pre this story or meeting Scarface afterwards) that are just begging to be written. You are welcome to both my characters and my plot, but let me know where I can find it! 


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